As far as measurements for the wind screen, I'm sure every boat is different (especially with the hull spread) so you guys will have to measure for yourself.

Here are my ballast mods. My boat came with the two rear factory hard tanks that totalled 350 pounds. I played with weighting the boat for a couple of years with tubs full of water, weight plates, and that sort of stuff, and I got really tired of it. I was also under the assumption that more weight in the back was better. So I yanked out the factory tanks and reworked the factory plumbing and put in a W707 (20x20x50) 750# Fat Sac. It was so much bigger and the pressure head was a lot more, so I had to install some valves to keep the sac from emptying on its own. It was also bigger than the compartment, so it didn't fit well, and I could only get maybe 600# in it. I also eventually learned that for my boat, it like more weight in the front than the rear. I gradually added weight to the front to tune the wake and ended up with (4) W703 (12x12x48) 260# Side Sacs up in the bow, two under the bow seats and two in the bow walkway. I realized that the 60% rear 40% front ratio is actually the opposite for me. So that meant that I needed the almost 900# in the bow that I ended up with. As you can guess, that is a lot of weight in the bow, and we dunked it almost constantly, and often we would have 6 people in the boat. So with all that weight we were easily 1000# plus over the weight limit of my boat, which is not smart, plus I hate walking on sacs and having almost zero storage. Long story longer, I swapped out the rear sac for the W704 (16x10x62) Tube Sac which is listed at 370#, but with it expanded to its max in the rear ski locker is at least 400# plus. Then I scrapped one of the front sacs, so now I am running about 1000# total in the same ratio as before. The wake is still nice, but the boat is a little more driveable, and not as easy to bow dip. Anyway, I have some pics below that show the current setup. I have both the pumps (reused from the factory system) below the PVC floor piece that I made to cover the bilge. I still have the manual valves in place, one on the drain line that I keep closed until it is time to empty the sac, and one on the vent line that I close once the sac is full so it doesn't loose water while riding. I still have the factory check valve on the fill line. To protect the blower line, I chopped up a piece of PVC pipe and glued some carpet to it to clean it up a bit.

04-12-2010, 01:06 PM

NCSUmoomba

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More ballast pics...

04-12-2010, 01:16 PM

NCSUmoomba

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I have also worked on the trailer a bit too. The non skid tape was coming loose from the step areas, and I had already re-glued it once and was tired of it. Besides, it had gotten very brittle anyway. I thought about spray on bedliner or maybe diamond tread pieces to replace them. I noticed something that made my decision for me in getting my boat ready for this year. I had scrubbed the carpet spotless earlier this year since it (and my whole boat) was disgusting. After I cleaned it, it looked better than it ever had since I owned the boat. However, after climbing in and out of it a thousand times cleaning and tweaking and fixing other things, it was dirty again. I realized that I needed a permanent floor mat for the boat. My buddy had this in the form of carpeted steps. And I got to thinking, a lot of older boat trailers had this, but now they are all grip tape. So I got some more PVC board and made carpeted step covers that not only look great, but I can wipe my feet on them before I get on the boat. Such a simple solution. The other things I have done was to install a new wicnh, a Fulton XLT, which is nice, but the new handle wouldn't fit, so I had to put my old handle on it. I also replaced the bow and keel rollers with some of the Stolz ones. My keel roller was worn it two pieces and was beating up the bottom of the boat, and the bow stop kept leaving black marks on the hull. Photos below...

04-12-2010, 01:22 PM

NCSUmoomba

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One las thing I did was address the tower bolts. Last year I kept the boat outside under a cover, so I kept the tower up almost all the time. The only exceptions were when we went up to Hyco lake where we had a low bridge to go under to get from the ramp to the warm part of the lake. I had picked up some pins to hold the tower from Lowes that worked and were quick, but they were loose and rattled a bit. This year, I am keeping it in my garage, so I have to fold the tower more often. So I got some stainless thumbscrew bolts and lanyards from McMaster-Carr to make this better. Now I can have the tower rigidly fastened, yet quickly unscrew it, without tools, and not drop the bolts in the water. Very convenient. Here is a photo of how that turned out.

04-12-2010, 01:41 PM

NCSUmoomba

1 Attachment(s)

In case any of you are curious, here is a photo of the wake with about 1500# of weight and only one person in the boat. That is me driving taking the photo over my shoulder, and my buddy Ben being pulled and he is about 5'-11" tall. We are running at 22mph I think. The wake is not huge, but I think it is quite nice for my 2001 Outback DD!

04-13-2010, 11:18 AM

mmandley

Those are some real nice upgrades. I really like the carpets steps you made. Looks really nice and clean, also i like the idea of them cleaning your feet some before getting in the boat.

Do you have a plan for the fenders where its curved?

04-19-2010, 05:27 PM

NCSUmoomba

Nope, no plans for the fender tops. That is the only place the nonskid stayed put. Since it has the Moomba name cut into it I want to leave them. If I can figure out how to get the wax off of it where I waxed the trailer, that whould be nice though.

04-19-2010, 07:56 PM

deerfield

NCSUmoomba - Nicely done. All of it - the custom upgrades and complete outfit. - Deerfield

04-20-2010, 12:42 PM

Canuckle Head

Lookin good NCSUmoomba! I've got a question about the wind blocker. Where did you find the aluminum channels?